


Come Hell or High Water

by Svynakee



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: Little Mermaid AU, M/M, as in the disney version not the super-metal Andersen version
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-05-20 09:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6000411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Svynakee/pseuds/Svynakee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hibiki is a mermaid prince with a dangerous fascination for life on land. One trip to the surface and a shipwreck later, he finds his fate intertwined with that of Prince Yamato, a man who intends to wage war on the gods themselves for a world he sees as broken. What secrets are hidden beneath the surface, lost to time and the waves? With time running out, Hibiki needs to make Yamato see that there is a world worth protecting both above and below. Meanwhile, Yamato is curious about this mute but undeniably talented individual, who seems to find joy in every trivial thing he encounters. Can the prince change the future through his choices and fulfill the task set before him, or will his voice be swallowed by the tides of the past? </p><p>(Where Hibiki inflicts many silent shenanigans on Yamato, and the author turns what could’ve been a simple and sweet AU into a complicated plot-tumbleweed.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Many things floated through the sea. Currents. Bits of seaweed. Stories. And Daichi’s cursewords.

“Aw, c’mon Daichi, don’t be so _crabby,_ ” Hibiki teased, wagging his long tail in front of his friend. This close to the surface, the sunlight played across its blue and silvery white dappled scales as if the sea prince was part of the waves himself.  

“That is _racist_ ,” Daichi grumbled, swatting the fins away with his claws. The grumbling was all in good fun though – it made Daichi feel less guilty when the trio got into trouble for Hibiki’s schemes. He could not swim as well as Io or Hibiki, but they were careful to let him keep pace or scuttle along the bottom where he was able. In return, he didn’t rat them out to Triton. That didn’t mean he couldn’t threaten it, though. “If we’re going to see that stupid birdbrain again, I swear, I am going straight to your father before you two get us all killed!”

“I don’t think Joe’s that bad, Daichi,” Io said, twisting around to look at him in that shy, earnest way that made his every complaint disappear like so many bubbles. “All he’s doing is telling us about the human world. It’s not like he’s actually introducing us to humans.”

“Bah, I bet he’s never even seen a human up close. They’d cook him as soon as they’d cook us, I bet. Joe is all talk and no – Hey!” Daichi swam straight into Hibiki, who had paused right in front of him. That is not to say that they were still; the ocean was pushing them slowly but surely to the left, but Hibiki seemed to take no notice of it. There was an odd look in his sapphire-blue eyes. A look that discomforted Daichi greatly. “Uh, hello? You feeling okay there buddy?”

“Do you think he could, though?” Hibiki turned to face the other two with an excited grin. It was like looking into the jaws of a shark, or a dark trench. That grin was _hungry._ Daichi and Io knew what it meant. _Human World._

Daichi laughed nervously, already starting to paddle backwards. This far from the seabed or convenient rocks, Hibiki could easily just grab him and drag him along into whatever misadventure he had planned, but that didn’t mean Daichi was going down without a fight. “What, cooking Joe? Sure, man, humans eat anything. They’re monsters.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Now Io spoke up. “Prince Hibiki, you can’t be thinking of meeting a human! That would put all of us in danger. You can’t ask Joe to do something like that.”

“Yeah, and he’s the only one that can fly!” Daichi clacked his claws nervously. “Do you know how many humans want to eat mer-flesh? ALL OF THEM!”

Hibiki shook his head, that damned smile still on his face. “Did you ask them yourself?”

“No, because then I would be dead.” Daichi sighed. He should just let go now; sink to the bottom, bury beneath the sand, hope that Triton wouldn’t find him in his wrath. There were very few things that could stop Hibiki once the guy made up his mind – a typhoon, maybe. “Look, if we’re doing this, then there’s going to be some _rules_ , okay? Because this is way more dangerous than any of the crazy stunts you’ve pulled before.”

The Prince of the Sea offered him a dazzling smile, regal yet mischievous. The elegant blue-striped white fins that sprouted from his back like an angelfish’s ventral fins gave him the impression of having wings, or a cape. “Name your terms, and I swear by Triton’s crown and the three prongs of his golden trident that I shall honour them.”

Daichi wracked his brains for anything and everything that could go wrong in actually trying to see a human up close. Had anyone ever done that before? Anyone who had lived, that is. He’d heard more than enough stories about what happened to merfolk who got too close to land in his childhood – those same stories that had instilled such fear in him had given Hibiki his unfortunate burning curiosity towards the human world. “Alright, well, you need to promise to be quiet. Like super quiet. And not draw attention to yourself, and don’t do anything reckless, and do _not_ try to collect anything; actually keeping all that junk you already have is dangerous enough. Don’t try to shake me or Io off – we need to be able to see you at all times, alright? And, uh, and… Io, a little help here?”

The mermaid frowned, hands on her hips just above where her scales started. They shifted in gradient as they went down, always so gently that pink became yellow striped with blue before the eyes realised it. But now, Daichi reminded himself, was not the time to be admiring Io’s tail. Although, this may be the last chance he ever had…

“Prince Hibiki, please promise me that you won’t go and see any humans on the land.”

Daichi whooped; he wanted to hug Io forever. Of course! They couldn’t exactly forbid Hibiki from seeing humans, but not letting him near land? Either the prince would have to go back on his word and thus give up, or he would have to plain give up. It was perfect. He swam up to his friend, slinging a claw over one thin shoulder. “Well, looks like that’s that, pal. How about we go oyster hunting? Or dolphin riding. There’s tons to do in under the sea far away from land and humans!” _C’mon, Hibiki. I know you’re a stubborn bastard but this is for the best._ Daichi’s desperate smile threatened to split his face in two.

Hibiki easily twisted out of his grasp, looping underneath and behind Daichi so that he floated just out of his reach. “So, that just means I’ll have to find humans that aren’t on land. Have I spoken correctly, Miss Io?”  

Io looked confused. “I guess so, my lord?”

“Well then, that’s settled! Off to our feathered surface friend!” Hibiki shot off, powerful tail putting a fair distance between him and his shocked entourage. Daichi groaned, causing Io to make a noise of distress.

“I’m sorry I agreed with him, Daichi,” Io said, “I thought that would stop him. I’m sorry.”

Daichi shrugged. “Hey, I haven’t ever been able to stop him from doing anything like this. Don’t sweat it – you’ll get used to just chasing his tail. Speaking of which… can you give me a lift? I want to get there with enough time to pinch that stupid bird’s butt.”

Io nodded, slipping her hands beneath his armpits before following in Hibiki’s wake. Daichi knew he looked kind of stupid being carried like that, but it wasn’t even half as stupid as he’d look if he let the prince of the sea get captured by humans just because he was late. All the way to Joe’s perch, Daichi could be heard muttering a litany of curses – most of them directed at the gull-spirit himself. Perhaps he was hoping that someone would hear and try to stop them.

Someone did hear.

He didn’t stop them.

In a flash of red and black, he was gone. 

* * *

Daichi broke the surface with eyes wide open to search for his wayward royal, only to be blinded by the merciless summer sun. He sank again with a screech, waving off Io’s concern before approaching the rippling blue-green boundary between above and below once more – this time with considerably more caution. Io followed, and together they approached Joe’s known haunt; an outcropping of brown rock some ways off the coast.

Joe was preening himself, running his fingers through dark grey wings while perched on the uppermost point of the rock, out of reach of the salt spray. Hibiki was stretched out luxuriously next to him, basking in the sunlight. Occasionally the prince would flick his tail up to douse himself with seawater, causing Joe to squawk that all his hard work was ruined, and then it would repeat. Any chance of dissuading the gull would have been lost the moment Hibiki had turned his not-unimpressive persuasive skills on him; not that he would been difficult to convince, as Joe was an avid supporter of the mermaid prince’s morbid fascination with humanity.

Daichi scuttled up onto the rock in what he hoped was a casual manner. In fact, he walked like a constipated spider.  Nevertheless he made it to Joe’s side without any mishaps; he did not bother to return the lazy wave that Hibiki had given him in greeting. “So, Joe, no can do right? Can’t have humans without land! Well, thanks for everything, we’ll be off…”

“Aw, c’mon Daich, I can’t turn away a royal visit with empty hands! You guys wanted to see a human up close, didn’t you?” An outstretched wing blocked Daichi’s escape, the feathers tickling his nose. Daichi sneezed.

“ _One_ of us wanted to see a human up close,” Daichi said pointedly. Hibiki whistled, arms behind his head, gazing up at the fluffy white clouds as they marched across the sky.

Joe nodded. “Yep, anything for my fishy friend. Just so happens that I can arrange a little something – got word that there’s a mighty fine human ship that comes this way today. Should be passing just north of here. And you know what the best thing is?”

 _That it’s a fishing boat and we’re all gonna die?_ “That all the humans are blind and deaf?”

“Geez, that’s dark, Daich. What have the humans ever done to you?” Joe’s japes always seemed to be just a shade on the wrong side of comfortable. He leaned in conspiratorially, and said in a carrying whisper that even Io could hear from her place at the base of the rock, “They’ve got a prince, too! It’s like its destiny or something, huh?”

“Yeah,” Daichi croaked, not even reacting to the annoying elbow nudges Joe was giving him. “Destiny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case anyone was wondering if Daichi's actually a crab like Sebastian - no, he's not. Merfolk eat fish, so Hibiki will be eating fish after getting his legs. And I tried to base their tail colours on their phones, which is why Io's is pink.


	2. Chapter Two

Unfortunately, they arrived without any incidents at the spot where Joe was certain the ship would pass. The gull spirit dodged questions about exactly how he came across this information with the same skill he dodged Hibiki’s playful attempts at sniping him from the air with gouts of water, and as always Daichi and Io found themselves dragged helplessly along by the tide of their prince’s enthusiasm.  The sun was bright, the water was cool and despite Daichi’s prayers there were no sudden walls of impenetrable rock that would materialise to block their path. Instead the merfolk were floating in the middle of open sea, peering at a distant speck on the horizon that was rapidly getting less distant. Already they could see the dark wood of the hull skimming across the water. A much smaller but closer speck skimmed through the air, framed by a brilliant azure sky. Joe gives a squawk in greeting as he returns.

“They’re heading right this way,” he reports, swooping down in his bird form. Any human that looked at him now would see only a seagull, bobbing up and down in the swell. The three distinctly humanoid heads that bobbed up and down with him were another matter, though. “The three of you should be able to grab onto the side and climb up there. And before you ask, yes, it is chock full of humans.”

That had been the last thing Daichi wanted to ask – and definitely not the answer he wanted to hear. He turned to the other two mer. “Great. Just a peek and we go back, right, Hibiki?”

Joe flung out a wing as if to bat away Daichi’s worries. “Hey, sport, don’t worry. First sign of trouble, you guys can just drop off and swim down. No human can follow you in the sea, right? I’ll even throw in a lil’ distraction to make sure you make a clean getaway, alright?” Joe flapped and screeched to get his point across, making snapping motions with his beak. Unsurprisingly, Daichi was the one subjected to the brunt of his splashing. The others simply ducked and resurfaced outside the blast radius. Hibiki did so with a laugh, and even Io couldn’t keep a small smile off her face.

“Yeah, I can count on you being annoying all right,” Daichi grumbles. Io pats the fuming crab on the back, causing his face to turn as bright a red as his shell.

“Please don’t put yourself at risk for our sake, Joe,” she says. “If things start looking dangerous, look after yourself and escape.”

Hibiki nods. “Joe, I know you’re from the surface and probably don’t know this, but the Mer Kingdom doesn’t include the whole sea. There are places outside of my father’s rule… places that even we consider dangerous.”

Joe stops his antics and peers suspiciously down at the water. “This… wouldn’t be one of those places, right?”

Daichi sighed. “Open sea? This is one of those places. Trust me.”

Joe squawks, quickly retreating to the sky. He flew wary circles around them, eying the waves with new distrust. “Why don’t people tell me these things? I should be told these things!”

“The things that rule in the wilderness don’t come to the surface without a good reason – we should be safe as long as we don’t give them one,” Hibiki says with a shrug. “Sneaking a look at humans won’t disturb the sea gods from their slumber.”

Joe remained in the air. “And what does disturb these sea gods?”

“Annoying birds,” Daichi quipped. “Ugh, who even _told_ you about this ship?”

Before Joe could answer, the sound of human voices and creak of wood battling against waves rushed over them. Hibiki had only ever seen the great human vessels either from a distance or at the bottom of the sea, broken and dead. This one reared proud in all its magnificence, crowned by billowing white sails as it ploughed through the waves like a charging beast. As its shadow fell over them, the mer prince leapt from the water with a powerful flick of his tail to grip the side of the ship with his clawed hands. Io followed suit, her scales flashing with all the colours of a summer sunset. Daichi simply pulled himself up with his tough chelae, starting from the waterline and making his steady way up behind the others, Joe leading the way through the air. Eventually all three mer were hidden just below the deck level on the ship’s side, with Joe perched innocuously on the railing. Cautiously, they peered at the commotion on board.

Humans swarmed over the deck, shouting, lifting, carrying crates of who-knows-what (Joe could probably put a name to them, but chances were he made those names up on the spot). They wrapped themselves in cloth, being more susceptible to the chill of the ocean wind, with most of them sporting yellow shirts and dark pants. Two individuals, a man and a woman, wore black coats instead. The black-clad humans did less lifting and more shouting, pointing and waving to direct the human tide. 

It was obvious who the prince was – he exuded an aura command, from his straight-backed stance to the gold-trimmed black coat he wore. This intimidating presence was added to by the giant furred creature at his feet that growled at anyone who came too near. It sniffed the air, massive snout turning towards where the merfolk were concealed. The deck seemed to shake with each step as it padded to the side of the ship, barking and scratching at the wood, the sea breeze ruffling its shaggy grey coat. Daichi almost tumbled off into the waters below, and even Joe looked serious for once. Seriously scared, that is.

“Cerberus, to me.” It was unmistakable who that authoritative voice belonged to. The creature, ‘Cerberus’, left at once to return to its master’s side. If it heard four collective breaths being let out simultaneously just below the ship’s railing, it made no move to investigate.

Ever quick to recover his enthusiasm and determined to make the most out of the trip, Hibiki had again moved to peer at the humans while the others tried to banish the thoughts of being ripped apart by the beast from their minds. It was obvious who had caught his attention. Voice hushed, he said, “I didn’t know humans could look like that.”

Daichi, as befitting his status as best friend, literally risked his neck to get a better look at the human prince. He was unusually pale, of a slender build, with silvery hair and eyes. Daichi felt that he looked like a something that belong in the depths of the sea, where it was cold and dark. Something with sharp teeth. Shuddering, he muttered, “I’m glad most of them don’t.”

For some reason, Hibiki’s reaction to this was to blush. “He’s actually kind of-”

A flash of green and purple, the crash of thunder silenced man and mer alike. The sky darkened as clouds swirled out from some distance point across the waves, a whirlpool of unnatural darkness. The sea began to thrash, caught in winds that howled like wrathful ghosts.  

A stampede of footfalls across the deck signalled most of the humans rushing to the far side of the ship.  The pale human had acquired a _snakeysnooter_ (a name courtesy of Joe, resident expert on human tools) _,_ stretching out the tube while walking briskly towards the crowd, barking orders the entire time. The yellow-shirt humans cleared a place by the railing for him, and the prince put the device to his eye (instead of using it as a club, as Joe the human expert had claimed). After a few moments spent surveying the oddly coloured storm, he turned to the black-clad woman and spoke. Even from the other side of the ship, Daichi could see the fear on her face as she began shouting orders and the deck transformed once more into organised chaos. He gave Hibiki’s bare shoulder a pinch, eliciting a yelp from the merman that was lost in the din. Crab claws are very good for pinching. “Hey man, this looks bad. We should get out of here before something bad happens.”

Unfortunately, Daichi seemed to have jinxed it. A colossal shudder ran through the ship, accompanied by the deafening crack of wood. Something _big_ had rammed into the bottom of the vessel – Hibiki and Io lost their grip, dropping back down into the waves. With a mantra of “crapcrap _crapcrapcrap_ ”, Daichi released his grip to join them and whatever it was that had decided to attack a human ship. Hopefully, it was on their side. And if not, well, it and the humans were welcome to each other.


End file.
